


Touched By An Angel

by frogfarm



Category: Dark Angel, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Canon Relationships, Gen, Implied Relationships, Kindred Spirits, Mutant Powers, Skin Hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 03:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5481197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogfarm/pseuds/frogfarm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max meets a soul sister in love.</p><p>Post-2x15, "Fuhgeddaboutit"; AU for X1 after the opening bar fight.</p><p>Alec & Max POV's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touched By An Angel

**Author's Note:**

> This has to be a record: Thirteen years from start to finish. Or rather: First half written thirteen years ago; cleaned up and second half written, in the last few days. The hardest part was working in past tense.
> 
> Fun fact: Monty Kora was a member of the 28th Maori Battalion in World War II.

> _"There's not many people who'll understand what you're going through."_

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Max's attempt at an angry growl actually came out as more of a hiss, as much due to her feline DNA as her efforts to remain unheard. The thought occurred to Alec that it made little difference when surrounded by hundreds of screaming drunks, but it never hurt to be cautious.

He pitched his voice low and leaned in, ignoring her reflexive flinch away from him. "Hey, I offered to get it the old-fashioned way."

That earned him another glare. "You're lucky I'm not charging interest. They'd be dredging the river for you."

Alec rolled his eyes. "As if I needed proof. You worked way too long on that Mafia thing with Logan." He realized too late he'd spoken the forbidden name aloud, and forged on without regret. "So how is the wheeled wonder?"

As expected, she looked away, but just as he was about to take it personally she turned back. His heart sank at the look on her face; while her lip wasn't actually quivering and those big eyes weren't welling with tears, her entire demeanor radiated palpable misery.

 _Great,_ he thought, putting on a serious face. She was going to bring out his nurturing side again, right when he had to be at his most aggressive.

"I don't know." Even with genetically enhanced hearing he had to strain to catch her words, as ephemeral as the haze of smoke they floated in. Once more, she'd gone in the space of a heartbeat from ready and able killing machine to something he hated to admit that he recognized. Alec had more than his own fair share of pain to go around, not that he would ever share it with anyone. Especially her.

"Come on." He let a trickle of smarmy self-assuredness into his smile. "Every minute you're not at Jam Pony, you're either hanging out with him or out on one of his world-saving missions. You two are practically joined at the hip. Gonna tell me you don't know how he's doing?"

"Fine." The syllable dripped vehemence, which passed just as quickly. "He's fine. As long as we don't accidentally touch, he's just dandy. Full of sunny optimism." Her smile wasn't bitter but it was cold, and Alec could see crow's feet around her eyes. "I'm the one who's starting to lose faith."

He dismissed her despondence with a casual wave.

"Max, there's no way I'm letting someone else walk out of here with that prize money. I pay you off, make a little for my trouble, and I get to take out some aggression after letting you humiliate me in the ring. It's a milk run." She didn't even look at him, and his normally winning smile felt unusually awkward. "Besides. How can I lose wearing my lucky Normal shorts?"

"It's not about the money," she snapped.

"Great. Can we go home then?" He felt a sudden irrational urge to beat her senseless. Or maybe it wasn't entirely irrational. He still didn't think his testicles had fully descended again.

"And miss seeing you get bounced around the ring?" Ah yes, that was most definitely a smile he saw. "Not on your life."

"I knew it wasn't the money," he scoffed, bringing a devilish curl to the corners of her mouth. _That's my girl,_ he thought, even as he shuddered at her possible reaction if he'd spoken aloud. Getting nabbed by White and his band of merry men would be preferable.

"I don't think this is a good idea --"

"And that's the fourth time you've said that," Alec smoothly interrupted. He swung his feet down from the wobbling table, polishing off his remaining beer and setting the bottle on the table between them. "What's the point in driving over two hundred klicks if you're still expecting us to get popped? After that stunt you pulled at the border, you should be more worried about getting back in."

"Quit your bitching," came the absent-minded reply. Max was scanning through the crowd yet again, checking for new faces and potential trouble. "I got us through, didn't I?"

"I gotta get changed." Alec pushed back the chair and rose to his feet. "You brought the cheerleader outfit, right?"  
  
Only feline reflexes saved him from the thrown beer bottle, which caromed off the corner of another table before hitting the floor, shattering in a glorious arc and spray of glass. A wave of laughter swept the bar, and Alec nodded in response to the scattered hoots and hollers from the crowd as Max stalked off to prowl the arena. One of the ring girls winked at him, and he returned the gesture, gracing her with a small grin.

_Luck be a lady tonight._

 

* * *

 

"M' sorry...I called you a bish..."

"Shut up," Max hissed, trying not to grind her teeth into powder. The noise of the audience was deafening as she made her way through the crowd, kicking its more drunken members in the shins when they failed to step aside. Both her arms were currently occupied as the legendary Monty Kora slumped on her shoulder, barely upright, bleeding all over her freshly cleaned leather jacket.

"He's leaving now." Max pitched her words low enough for Alec's ears alone, using her hip to shove the door open. A blast of frigid air greeted them, bringing disapproving shouts from inside the bar. "I'm getting our money back."

"Max...I lost." Alec groaned, clutching his ribs. "Fair 'n square."

"I don't think so. Hell, _I_ could kick that guy's ass." She lowered Alec to the ground, propping him against the worn and weathered timber before rising with a determined look, giving her knuckles an ominous crack. "And that's just what the doctor ordered."

Alec only made another pathetic noise in his throat as he fought to remain conscious. He didn't sound overly gurgly, so Max felt safe leaving him there. Right now she was more worried at the lack of customary banter. If he was hurt badly enough that he couldn't protest about her defending his honor, they might have to find a black market doctor before trying to get back Stateside. Which meant more money. Or threats.

A spark of red flared in the dark of the alley. Max's enhanced pupils shrank from the light, but the silhouette of her target remained etched in her mind.

"Thought you might be waitin'."

His voice was gruff and conversational, the muttered words clear even around the cigar; his face obscured by darkness under the brim of his beat-up cowboy hat. She'd seen him clear enough in the ring, though. All business, cool and calm, until a frustrated Alec stopped holding back and actually seemed to hurt him. Even Max, a soldier from birth trained for combat, had cringed at some of the blows exchanged by the two men.

"Not that you beating the snot out of my pleb wasn't a great birthday present? But I kinda need that cash." She quashed the flicker of guilt deep in her gut. "I'll fight you for it."

Her foe regarded her from the safety of the shadows. "I just lit this thing."

"You'll get it back soon enough." She could feel the fire in her veins, itching for violence.

"Got that right." He turned slightly, speaking over his shoulder. "Hold this."

_"Ah thought you said we were leavin'."_

Female, timid; teenage, by the sound. Max had ignored the diminutive figure behind him, assessed on sight and dismissed as any kind of threat. She hadn't considered an X-series transgenic, though. Her hackles rose at the thought of a bar code on the back of this bitch's neck.

The figure lay a gloved hand upon her companion's arm, giving it an urgent tug. "Let's just go, okay?"

"We gotta eat, kid." The tiny added softness in his voice was enough to pique Max's interest, but his bulk still blocked the woman from her vision. "Don't worry. She smells like him."

"So wishing I didn't get that." Max made a face as if to spit.

"No offense, darlin'." He took another drag from the cigar and handed it back to the girl, who received it without hesitation. "But if your boyfriend or brother, or whatever, is the best you folks have got -- you should have stayed home."

He stepped forward and Max launched herself off his oncoming knee in a flip, her foot meeting his chin and sending his hat flying, himself staggering back and holding his jaw. She landed with a grin, pushing her hair from her eyes.

"He's not."

The stranger actually _growled_ , wiping his mouth with his sleeve. A grin slowly spread over Max's face, followed by his own.

The flickering neon light provided just enough illumination for her to be amazed at his speed as he launched himself forward, an epileptic blur. Max responded by launching herself upward, landing an elbow strike to his neck while he was passing underneath. She'd planned to follow up with a crippling kick, take out his knee with one blow, but he was already somewhere else. Too late she could tell this was different; she might be able to take him, but it would definitely be no milk run.

"Cut it out!" the girl cried, sounding more annoyed than panicky. Torn between bad and worse options, Max went with the bad. She grabbed the startled teen by the wrist, twisting her arm behind her back, holding her in place.

Her captive didn't cry out. For what it was worth, Max approved.

"I'm sorry about this." She strove for a soothing tone, alien as it was to her. "Now tell your boyfriend, or brother, or whatever -- hand over the cash, and nobody gets --"

"Marie!" His voice held all the panic she expected from the girl. "No --"

In a flash, Max saw it all: The long, elegant glove, dangling from her captive's teeth; the desperate expression as she reached out, pressing her fingers tight against the older woman's face. The world contracting to a single point, a far-off star calling her name, shouting voices following her down.

"Ah'm sorry, too."

Her vision was slowly receding, the grey figures hovering overhead becoming one with the night.

"You're strong." The voice was fading too, a pleasant hum in her ears as the water closed over her. "You'll be okay."

"What..." Max could barely manage the words. "What are you?"

A gentle hand, once more sheathed in velvet, came to rest on her forehead.

"Just another girl in love."

**Author's Note:**

> Written Spring 2002 / Winter 2015.


End file.
